Railway systems involve sets of tracks, each track including one or more railway rails. Each rail is secured to support members to form the track over which a train may run. The support members may include a cross member such as a “railway sleeper”, or a concrete base, steel support, or the like.
In practice, each rail may be secured to a support member using a support plate which is located between a foot of the rail and a supporting surface of the support member. Such a support plate may include, for example, a “tie plate” or a “turnout plate”. In terms of supporting a rail to a railway sleeper, each support plate is fixed to the sleeper using a suitable fixing such as a threaded fastener or spike (large nail), with the actual fixing depending on the sleeper design and material. The rail is then secured to the support plate, and thus to the sleeper, using another fixing, which may include a tie clip. In operation, each sleeper is usually supported by a foundation comprising a ballast material. A sleeper may thus include upper and lower surfaces for contacting a tie plate and ballast respectively.
Railway system construction involves transporting large numbers of components across large distances. Typically the components are transported in high volume containers, such as shipping containers. Such transportation incurs significant transport costs. Indeed, the transportation demands are such that even a slight reduction in component weight can lead to a significant reduction in transportation costs. For example, because some transportation systems are weight restricted, a reduction in the weight of a particular component may mean that a larger number of those components may be transported for a particular weight restriction.
Because of the need for load bearing components, such as the support plate, to meet particular structural demands and provide structural integrity over an extended operational life, a significant challenge in component design involves reducing component weight whilst maintaining the required structural performance.
One approach for reducing the weight of a support plate involves forming a series of grooves or slots on the surface of the support plate in contact with the support member to reduce material mass. Unfortunately, incorporating grooves on the surface of the support plate in contact with the support member may lead to a reduction in the operational life of the support member, at least. For example, as a train moves along a rail and across the railway support member, the support member supports the weight of the train. The train movement may create slight movements and frictional forces between the contacting surfaces of the support plate and the support member. Over time, these frictional forces may contribute to wear of the support plate or the support member, which may ultimately result in the support plate or the support member requiring removal and replacement, thus limiting the operational life. The extent to which the support plate contributes to the frictional forces, and thus the degradation of the support member, depends at least to some extent on the interface between the support plate and the support member.
It is against this background that the problems and difficulties associated therewith that the present invention has been developed.
Certain objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein, by way of illustration and example, an embodiment of the present invention is disclosed.